In today’s digital age, there is a wealth of free PR tools available to help you get your message out there. Whether you’re a small business owner, a startup founder, or a solopreneur, these tools can help you:
- Find journalists and influencers:
- HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a great place to connect with journalists who are looking for sources for their stories. While its mostly US-centric, there are opportunities for a few looking at new horizons.
- Mention is a powerful tool that helps you identify influencers in your niche. You can use Mention to track brand mentions, find relevant conversations, and connect with influencers talking about your industry.
- Build relationships with journalists:
- Pitchbox is a free media database and email outreach platform that can help you streamline your pitching process.
- BuzzSumo is a great tool for finding content that is performing well on social media. You can use BuzzSumo to identify journalists who are sharing content similar to yours, and then reach out to them with your own story ideas.
- Monitor your brand mentions:
- Google Alerts is a free tool that can send you email notifications whenever your brand name or keywords are mentioned online. This is a great way to stay on top of what people are saying about you, and to identify potential opportunities to engage with your audience. It doesn’t always pick up stories from Middle East media but it’s still a useful tool.
- Create and distribute press releases:
- EIN Newswire offers paid options but helps to get your newsletter to online news media in the region. They are useful for backlinks and each package has a validity for a year.
- PR Newswire for Startups offers a free plan for startups to distribute press releases. We haven’t tried this yet but it can be explored.
- Cision Communications Cloud offers a free tier that allows you to create and distribute a limited number of press releases each month.
- Creative Tools:
- Canva is a free graphic design tool that you can use to create high-quality images for your press releases and social media posts.
- Hemingway Editor is a free online writing tool that can help you improve the clarity and conciseness of your writing.
Remember:
While free PR tools can be a valuable asset, they should not be your only strategy. Building relationships with journalists and influencers takes time and effort. But by using a combination of free and paid tools, you can develop a comprehensive PR strategy that will help you get your message in front of the right audience.
- Be patient: It takes time to build relationships with journalists and influencers. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results overnight.
- Be persistent: Follow up with journalists and influencers after you’ve reached out to them.
- Be helpful: Don’t just pitch your own stories. Offer to help journalists with their research or provide them with expert insights.
- Be social: Follow journalists and influencers on social media and engage with their content.
By following these tips and using the free PR tools listed above, you can develop a successful PR strategy that will help you get your brand noticed.
If you need help and want to explore your options with a PR agency that understands the region and the small business, fill out this briefing form or reach out to us.
